Thursday, January 10, 2013

FUN, FUN Drop Spindle Spinning & SD Fabric Project

Sue Vegter's leaf addition to dyed fabric.


The first part of our program meeting was spent oohing and aahhing over the three pieces of fabric in the surface design round robin collaborative project that some members in the guild are involved in.  Pris Lynch dyed the original white Kona cotton in a Procion MX gray/black dye in a folded pattern.  It was then cut in to three one-yard pieces.  Sue Vegter added hand pounded poinsettia leaves to the four corners and then needle-felted in black outlines.  Alice Breese hand printed circles with a paper tube in silver (next time she'll put some kind of a waterproof glue on the bottom of the tube, she said, so the paper wouldn't soak up so much silver paint).  Jeannie Emery had an old wood stamp that she used to print images all over her piece.  The fabric pieces then went to the next person in each group to add their surface design addition.  That will be the surprise at the next meeting on Feb. 6 (if the weather is good).


Alice Breese's silver circles addition to dyed fabric.
Jeannie Emery's light brown printed addition.








The second part of the meeting became a wonderful, impromptu tutorial by new member, Arlene Tiemeyer, teaching members how to hand spin wool with a drop spindle.  She had brought all of her drop spindles (top whorls and bottom whorls) and a lot of beautiful blue gray carded wool fleece.  There was a lot of dropping of spindles at first (and words...) and then gradually, with a lot of concentration and determination, less and less noise and very determined looks and even smiles at the yarn that was being spun!  We will continue next month on Feb. 6 (weather dependent, of course) with members bringing their spinning wheels and fleece and continue our adventure in spinning.

Check out www.bigfam15.etsy.com, Arlene Tiemeyer's husband's business of making weaving and spinning tools made from rescued, reclaimed, repurposed, and recycled wood.

Photos by Alice Breese

Friday, January 4, 2013

Drop Spindle Spinning & Surface Design Collaboration



Our next meeting will be Wed., Jan. 9, at the Holland Area Arts Council, 150 East 8th St., Holland, MI 49423, starting at 6:00pm and is dependent on the weather. We invite anyone interested in the textile and fiber arts to join us.

Many members are working on a collaborative project in which each person takes a turn at putting a surface design technique of their chosen fabric and then passing it to the next person for their inclusion. After discussing this project and its progression, members who are interested will practice hand spinning wool using a drop spindle.

The Lakeshore Fiber Arts Guild invites anyone interested in the textile fiber arts to their monthly program meetings held the first Wednesday of each month (September through May) at the Holland Area Arts Council. For more information, contact jgould1526@esagelink.com or 616-878-1526.